A secluded forest path where no travelers passed.

Several horses and a single cart clattered noisily into view.

At the head of the line, leading a horse, was Namgoong Soryong.

The group moving down the path was none other than Soryong returning to the Yeon Family, accompanied by its warriors.

“No matter what, you lived as their son for years. Shouldn’t you at least have shown your face?”

“Exactly. He shut himself away after losing the competition for Little Clan Lord, yet dares to act like this.”

“Same with Namgoong Woong. Always stiff-necked, but isn’t he hardly worth a fistful compared to you, Young Master?”

At their words, Soryong gave a brief, mocking smile.

“That’s right. As a child, I beat him plenty. He cried so easily—like a little girl. I had to look after him all the time.”

“Kya—! Truly our Young Master! Just as you said, that weakling was nothing special after all!”

“Exactly. And as for the Sword Emperor—can someone counted among the Ten Great Masters really die so easily? Isn’t that suspicious?”

Soryong chuckled as he replied.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t recall ever seeing Namgoong Mucheon’s martial arts myself while I lived in Namgoong. All I heard was empty praise for that beggar’s brat of a daughter and her pathetic techniques. They never had any eye for true skill.”

At Soryong’s words, the Yeon warriors burst into loud laughter.

“It was right to leave that place! A house full of hypocrisy and falsehoods could never contain our Young Master!”

Just then, a warrior beside Soryong chimed in, elated—

“How large, then, is the Yeon Family, to contain such a ‘great man’ as yourself?”

“!”

The voice came suddenly from beyond the brush.

Neither Soryong nor the Yeon warriors had sensed anyone approaching until that very moment. Instantly, they drew their swords in alarm.

“Who’s there?”

Soryong forced his voice lower as he demanded an answer. A figure stepped from the brush.

“Who else? That beggar brat.”

Namgoong Soryong’s eyes widened.

It was Namgoong Seolhwa standing in their way.

She hadn’t even shown her face when he left Namgoong, and rumor had it she’d been spending her days at Mucheon’s tomb.

When did she start trailing me?

Startled, Soryong looked at Seolhwa before him. Then he lowered his sword and smiled broadly.

“Ah, so it was you. You startled me, appearing like that.”

The Yeon warriors likewise sheathed their blades.

“What brings you out here? Did you follow me? Come to think of it, we didn’t even exchange farewells.”

Seolhwa gave a faint, mocking laugh.

“Farewells? We never got along. Did you forget?”

At her scornful words, Soryong’s smile faltered.

He understood—she hadn’t followed him with good intentions.

Seolhwa met his gaze coldly and continued.

“You do love to talk. Anyone hearing you would think you left Namgoong on your own two feet.”

“...I don’t know what you mean.”

“That shameless denial—you take after your parents.”

The Yeon warriors bristled and shouted.

“You go too far! Whatever Lady Yeon may have done to the Namgoong Clan, she remains our Young Master’s mother!”

Seolhwa laughed dryly.

“A small mistake? Does the Yeon Family kill people for small mistakes?”

“W-what...!”

“Back then, the Yeon Family turned its back and left me to die. So why now do they treat her as a precious lady?”

“...!”

Her gaze swept over the Yeon warriors.

The truth was plain. They revered Namgoong Soryong because of the thirteen years he had lived in Namgoong.

Though Yeon Soran’s crime had gotten him expelled, for the Yeon Family—estranged from Namgoong—it made Soryong their one remaining link.

Even so... the moment Grandfather’s death was announced, they rushed to send him forth.

They knew the truth. Namgoong Mucheon would never have accepted Soryong back while alive.

“Do you know why Grandfather let you live?”

At her words, Soryong’s face hardened.

“So you would remember. To remember the sins of your mother and your true father. To remember how they dared disgrace Namgoong.”

“....”

“That’s why he spared you. Not so you could strut about like this without knowing your place.”

“Silence that tongue!”

Whssh—Thuck!

The dagger flew and buried itself in the throat of the Yeon warrior who had shouted.

It happened in an instant.

“Ghk, khh...”

Eyes wide, the others turned toward the fallen warrior. Clutching his throat, he gagged, then toppled from his horse without a scream.

Clang—Schinng!

The Yeon warriors drew their swords once more, this time toward Seolhwa.

“What madness is this?!”

Soryong shouted.

“Even if they insulted you, you can’t just slaughter men for words!”

“I told you. Do you think I killed him for a mere insult?”

“...What?”

“You clearly don’t understand. So I’ll explain.”

Her hand fell upon her sword’s hilt.

“Here’s why you die today. Not for slandering the Namgoong Clan. Not even for slandering me.”

Srrrng—

At the ring of steel, Soryong swallowed hard without meaning to.

Her sword’s point fixed on him, eyes wide with tension.

“For the crime of plotting the Clan Head’s assassination.”

“...W-what...!”

“And for the crime of smuggling away the culprits.”

“...!”

Soryong’s eyes shook violently.

“I—I don’t know what you mean! Why would I help the ones who killed Grandfather...?”

“Don’t call him Grandfather. He wasn’t, not to you.”

“....”

“And you’re still as stupid as ever.”

“...What?”

“If it really wasn’t you, you shouldn’t have looked shocked just now. You should have been surprised at the word ‘assassinated.’”

The world believes he died of illness. To hear it said otherwise and show no surprise—wasn’t that strange?

“T-that’s...”

Tap—

Seolhwa’s figure vanished before their eyes.

The Yeon warriors and Soryong spun, searching wildly for her.

Swshh—Shhk!

“Ghk!”

“Arghhh!”

Cries rang from the rear—where two warriors guarded the cart.

“!”

By the time Soryong and the rest turned, the guards lay dead, bodies collapsed by the wagon.

Thunk—

“Khkk...”

The driver slumped next, a dagger in his chest.

Seolhwa stepped up and flung open the wagon door.

“What are you doing?! Stop her!!”

At Soryong’s shout, the Yeon warriors surged toward her.

But numbers meant nothing. Warriors of middling and low rank were no °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° match for Seolhwa.

Swshh—Shhk! Slash!

“Gahk—!”

“Khkk!” 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Her sword cut them down without mercy.

One by one, the warriors charging at her fell, and step by step she closed the distance to Soryong.

Watching his men drop helplessly, Soryong began to pull at his horse’s reins.

When only three warriors remained between them—

Whshhh—

He wrenched the reins aside and bolted.

Whsshh—Thud!

The horse screamed as a dagger flew past its nose and buried in a tree.

The startled animal reared, and Soryong tumbled off.

Thud!

He scrambled up, bursting into a lightness technique to flee.

Swwwshhh—!

The whistling of blades through air.

Soryong twisted, parrying the throwing knives.

Clang! Clang!

He blocked them, but his eyes found no trace of Seolhwa.

Panic welled as he scanned around. Nothing. No sound, no presence.

Then—an icy shiver raced down his spine. He jerked his head upward.

Thwack—!

“Ghhkk!!”

Seolhwa’s heel crashed into his chest.

Crunch! Crack! Craaack—

Her kick sent him crashing through brush and trees before he slammed into a massive trunk.

Boom—!

“Khahhk!”

He flailed to pry her boot off his chest.

Crkk—

“Arghhhhhh!”

She crushed his arm underfoot. Her voice was like winter steel.

“That’s what comes of repaying grace with betrayal.”

Inside the cart were three people.

Every face was one Seolhwa recognized.

One, a kitchen steward of the Namgoong Clan.

Another, a maid once assigned to the Clan Head’s quarters.

The last wore the uniform of the Black Dragon Unit.

“...So the purge wasn’t thorough four years ago.”

Back then, she’d rooted out spies by the single word Blood Demon Cult.

But without its name as a binding taboo, those hidden in Hwaoru had slipped through.

The problem now was clear.

“And you—why are you helping them?”

In her past life, he’d run away like a coward, but he’d never had dealings with the Blood Demon Cult.

So why was he aiding their agents now?

“Heh... Don’t bother asking. Just kill me. I won’t beg for my life.”

“...What?”

“When I was cast out four years ago, I might as well have died already. I’ve no words for the likes of you, no pleas for mercy. Just kill me!”

Seolhwa raised her hand toward him.

He squeezed his eyes shut despite his defiance.

So he claimed not to value life, yet still trembled at death’s touch.

She tapped his cheek lightly with her fingers.

“In some ways, you’ve changed not at all.”

Still the same coward as in her previous life.

“Hey.”

“You...! I told you—just kill me!”

“Answer me straight before I really do.”

A suffocating crimson killing intent rose around her.

Soryong’s face blanched with terror.

“Who ordered you to do this?”